The present invention relates to the production of a design on an arcuate or irregular surface. More particularly, the invention relates to method and apparatus for transferring a flat rectangular design onto a flat surface in a foreshortened circular form for subsequent formation into an arcuate surface bearing such design in relatively undistorted form.
Multi-colored metal designs have been produced on flat surfaces using conventional photographic masking techniques to allow successive selective etching and/or metal deposition corresponding to each color effected, as in U.S. Pat. No. 2,731,333 to Ko. Such surfaces can then be curved or pressed into a desired shape, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,503,815 to Johnson. However, this procedure is limited by the extent to which an arcuate surface can be formed without excessive distortion of the design, which would usually be in a flat rectangular-coordinate form.
It is also known to this applicant to transfer a flat design directly to an arcuate surface by use of a projection and rotation technique, as in applicant's co-pending patent application, Ser. No. 729,764, filed Oct. 5, 1976, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Producing a Design on an Arcuate Surface." In that method, subsequent processing takes place on the preformed surface. Accordingly, additional hand labor and equipment are necessary if a manufacturer has been equipped to further process only flat surfaces.